Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Director of Graduate Studies: Y. Zhang
338 Agricultural Engineering Sciences Building
1304 West Pennsylvania Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801
(217) 333-3570
E-mail: abe@illinois.edu
Major: Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Degrees offered: M.S. and Ph.D.
Medical Scholars Program: Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Agricultural and Biological Engineering and Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) through the Medical Scholars Program
Graduate Degree Programs
The Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering offers a graduate degree program which is at the forefront of the application of engineering principles to solve problems of agricultural production, utilization, environmental control, and biological systems and to improve the quality of life. Students may concentrate study in one of the faculty research interest areas listed below. Supporting course work includes: mathematics; computer science; statistics; engineering mechanics; chemical, civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering; animal science; crop sciences; food science; and other appropriate fields. Opportunity also exists for specializing in computational science and engineering within the department's graduate program via the Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) Option. The Medical Scholars Program permits highly qualified students to integrate the study of medicine with study for a graduate degree in a second discipline, including Agricultural and Biological Engineering.
Admission
Admission requirements for the master's program include completion of an undergraduate program equivalent to the agricultural and biological engineering curriculum with at least a 3.00 grade point average (A = 4.00) for the last two years of undergraduate course work.
Admission to the Ph.D. program is limited to individuals who have demonstrated exceptional ability through outstanding performance in obtaining a Master of Science degree and/or through a high degree of technical and professional accomplishment. Candidates must also satisfy entrance requirements for the M.S. degree program.
All applicants whose native language is not English must submit a minimum TOEFL score of 88 (iBT), 230 (CBT) or 570 (PBT); or minimum International English Language Testing System (IELTS) academic exam scores of 6.5 overall and 6.0 in all subsections. Applicants may be exempt from the TOEFL if certain criteria are met. For those taking the TOEFL or IELTS, full admission status is granted for scores greater than 102 (TOEFL iBT), 253 (TOEFL CBT), 610 (TOEFL PBT), or 6.5 (IELTS). Limited status is granted for lesser scores and requires enrollment in English as a Second Language (ESL) courses based on an ESL Placement Test (EPT) taken upon arrival to campus.
Students may apply to the Medical Scholars Program prior to beginning graduate school or while in the graduate program. Applicants to the Medical Scholars Program must meet the admissions standards for and be accepted into both Agricultural and Biological Engineering and the College of Medicine. An application to the Medical Scholars Program will also serve as the application to the Agricultural and Biological Engineering graduate program. Further information on this program is available by contacting the Medical Scholars Program (125 Medical Sciences Building, (217) 333-8146, mspo@illinois.edu).
Degree Requirements
*For additional details and requirements refer to the department's Graduate Handbook and the Graduate College Handbook.
Master of Science
| Required Courses | Thesis Option–Required Hours | Non-thesis Option–Required Hours |
|---|---|---|
| 1 course in Instrumentation and measurement | 3-5 | 3-5 |
| 1 course in statistical design and analysis | 3-5 | 3-5 |
| 1 MATH course beyond Differential Equations | 3-4 | 3-4 |
| Formal 500 level course in area of specialization (3 hours min) | 3-5 | 3-5 |
| ABE 594 enrollment (0 hrs) every semester | 0 | 0 |
| ABE 501and 502 | 2 | 2 |
| Research and Project Hours (min-max applied toward degree): | 4 max | |
| Thesis Hours Required (min-max applied toward degree): | 8 | n/a |
| Total Hours | 33 | 36 |
| Minimum 500-level Hours Required Overall: | 12 | 12 |
| Other Requirements:* | A written report is required | |
| The non-thesis option is only allowed with departmental approval at or before initiation of graduate study, and a final report is required. | ||
| Minimum GPA: | 3.0 | 3.0 |
Doctor of Philosophy
| Required Courses | Required Hours |
|---|---|
| 1 course in Instrumentation and measurement | 3-5 |
| 1 course in statistical design and analysis | 3-5 |
| 1 MATH course beyond Differential Equations | 3-4 |
| 1 formal 500 level course in area of specialization (3 hours min) | 3-5 |
| ABE 594 enrollment every semester | 0 |
| ABE 501and 502 (unless taken during MS) | 0-2 |
| Thesis Hours Required (min-max applied toward degree): | 32 max |
| Total Hours | 64 |
| Other Requirements:* | Teaching experience is required. |
| Minimum GPA: | 3.0 |
| Masters Degree Required for Admission to PhD? | Yes |
| Qualifying Exam Required | No |
| Preliminary Exam Required | Yes |
| Final Exam or Dissertation Defense Required | Yes |
| Dissertation Deposit Required | Yes |
Medical Scholars Program
Students in the Medical Scholars program must meet the specific requirements for both the medical and graduate degrees. On average, students take eight years to complete both degrees. The first year of the combined program is typically spent meeting requirements of the Agricultural and Biological Engineering graduate degree.
Graduate Teaching Experience
Experience in teaching is considered a vital part of the graduate program and is required as part of the academic work of all Ph.D. candidates in this program.
Faculty Research Interests
Current research interests of the faculty include off-road equipment engineering (robotics and machinery automation, remote sensing and precision agriculture, machinery management systems, pesticide application technology, engines and biofuels); soil and water resources (hydrology, erosion and sediment transport, water management, wetlands, and water quality); bioenvironmental engineering (building environment and energy conservation, air quality, renewable energy, biomass to bioenergy conversion, structural analysis and facility design, building materials evaluation, environmental control and ergonomic design for plant, animal, and human housing systems and facilities); food and bioprocess engineering (engineering properties of foods, physical properties of biological products, grain drying, grain quality evaluation, dry-grind corn processing, wet and dry milling, modified bioprocesses for improved co-products, fuel and chemicals, fermentation, and transport phenomenon in biological materials); or electronic and electrical systems (biosensors and controls, energy systems, machine vision, near-infrared spectroscopy applications, bionanotechnology, microfabricated devices, bioconjugation techniques, transcriptional control, modeling life support systems, and multiscale biological processes). For more details, visit the department's graduate program Web site.
Financial Aid
Fellowships, supported by University, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, and College of Engineering funds, are available on a competitive basis. A limited number of assistantships, providing both teaching and research experience, are often available on a half-time basis. All applicants, regardless of U.S. citizenship, whose native language is not English and who wish to be considered for teaching assistantships must demonstrate spoken English language proficiency by achieving a minimum score of 50 on the Test of Spoken English (TSE), 24 on the speaking subsection of the TOEFL iBT, or 8 on the speaking subsection of the IELTS. For students who are unable to take the TSE, iBT, or IELTS, a minimum score of 50 is required on the SPEAK test, offered on campus. All new teaching assistants are required to participate in the Graduate Academy for College Teaching conducted prior to the start of the semester.